1. Field of the Invention
The invention is directed to a storage and inventory control system for keys, wherein each key is provided with an inclined receptacle in which the key is stored for future use. A microprocessor controls the release of keys and records who used the key, for what purpose, and for how long.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In car dealerships and automobile leasing agencies it is necessary to keep track of a large number of car keys. The keys are used by salespersons demonstrating the cars, potential buyers test driving the cars, and maintenance personnel maintaining and moving the cars. Typically car dealerships and leasing agencies employ a hook board on which individual keys are mounted for all of the cars on the lot. Each set of car keys is alloted an individual hook. A person needing a key merely takes the key off the board.
As will be appreciated, such a system sometimes results in unauthorized use of vehicles. In addition it becomes difficult to determine if a car is in the shop for routine maintenance or is currently in use by a salesperson or potential buyer.
Automated warehousing systems for storing and handling individual articles are well known in the art, see U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,157,296; 3,297,379; 3,920,195; 3,968,888 and 4,239,436. Such systems maybe provided with computer control means for recording article inventories.
Automated storage and article handling systems have been proposed that are provided with inclined racks on which a plurality of similar articles are stored, see U.S. Pat. No. 3,520,424. In a similar system individual tape cassettes are stored in individual inclined compartments wherein the cassettes are held in place by a stop means. Such a cassette storage and handling system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,251,177.
Automated package handling systems have also been proposed for security applications, see U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,964,577 and 4,225,278. Generally a user is supplied with a container in which he places articles to be stored. The container would then be automatically returned to a secure area and indexed accordingly.
Cards encoded with data maybe stored in a rectangular matrix of addressable storage compartments, as proposed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,473,675 and 3,536,194. An electronic key board maybe used to address individual compartments and select data cards for a data processing machine.